Canada to Kannada
Moving to India when it isn't your home.
I'm Stefan. On New Year's Day 2026, my wife and I moved from Canada to Bangalore. She's from Bangalore, I'm Canadian. These are my notes on the move, the good and the bad, whether you're the non-Indian spouse or an NRI coming back after years away. The practical stuff is below.
Guides
What I figured out the hard way. Open whichever ones apply to you.
- Payments in IndiaI couldn't pay for things here without a bank account, PAN, or Aadhaar. Every workaround I tried, and the ones that worked.
- Neighborhoods GuideA crowdsourced sheet of where to live in Bangalore. Rent, AQI, traffic, schools, and what locals say.
- PAN, Aadhaar, OCIThe documents you need before most things in India work. The order I got them in, and where I got stuck.
- Moving pets to IndiaHow we moved Luna from Canada to Bangalore. Vet paperwork, import permit, airline choice, and what it cost.
- Health insuranceHow I picked a plan. Outpatient care here is cheap, so you're really insuring against hospital stays. The agents pushing the wrong plan, and what I narrowed down to.
- What it costs to live in IndiaOur real monthly spend in Bangalore. Rent, food, maid, the lot. What's cheaper than Canada and what isn't. More cities as people ask.
- Your money and phone back homeKeeping your bank, cards, and phone number back home working from India. OTPs, the VoIP trap, and which brokerages let you stay invested as a non-resident.
- How we decided to moveThe math, the fear, the conversations with family, and how my wife and I made the call to move to India.
About me
I worked in banking for 14 years, burned out, and quit. Now my wife and I are in Bangalore trying to start a family. I'm not a tax guy or a lawyer. I just went through this move myself and started writing down what worked, while it's fresh. Hopefully it saves you some of the time and confusion it cost me.
A lot of this started as Reddit posts that thousands of people read and added to.
Say hi
Tried something I haven't? Found something wrong or stale? Email [email protected].